hnotis

Thanks VulpesZerda! I didn't even think to submit my papers for research awards. I think I will look into that! What's funny is that the one I think is best was actually for a psychology grad class, but since I wanted to take a psychology based approach to the field of communication, that might be okay!

I don't have any real research experience. I've written a few 20 page or so long research papers (one for a graduate level class I was taking as an undergrad) but I don't have any publications or presentations under my belt. I am hoping to get a little bit of experience with this with the capstone course I'm taking next semester but I will be doing that during the same semester I'll be applying to grad schools. So my first question is, will this lack of research experience make it difficult for me to get in to a good MA program? I purposely am not applying to PhD programs this time arond because I don't think I would have a competitive application. Also, I was told that it wasn't worth pursing a program that didn't offer full funding. On the other hand, I've been told that MA programs don't generally offer full funding. The programs that I'm applying to all have TA-ship opportunities but all on a competitive basis. So should I just be happy if I get any funding at all since it seems hard to come by at the masters level? Should I be okay with taking out student loans for another two years while I work on my MA and prepare for applying to PhD programs? Or is it not worth it to go to an MA program that won't fund me fully? Any insight into these questions would be aweseome and so very appreciated. I just want to know if I'm wasting my time and money or if it would be reasonable to take another two years worth of loans out so that I can (hopefully) get into a fully funded PhD program. Thanks!

Obviously, in order to strengthen my application I want to look into getting some kind of research experience in the Comm field. I'm still unclear about the best way to approach this at the undergraduate level... Maybe you all could share some stories about how you ventured into the world of research before grad school and maybe even post anything you published then as well. Thanks!

JLRC, Based on my research CU Boulder, CSU, UNC, AND DU all offer full TA-ships to a few MA students. CU Denver and Colorado Springs both offer TA-ships for stipends and possibly tuition waivers but I am not clear on how much. I do plan on going to whatever school (if any) funds me with a TA-ship. I just think the time and money it costs to move out of state for what might only be a few years seems like a huge waste to me if I can get funding in the state I love am grounded in.

I am currently finishing up my undergrad at University of Northern Colorado. After a lot of thought and careful consideration, I decided that it wouldn't make sense financially or personally for me to go out of state for my MA. Therefore I have decided to only apply to Colorado schools. There are 6 schools in Colorado that I think would fit wonderfully with what I want to study. At the same time, I haven't heard of anyone applying to schools in just one state. Thoughts?

So I will be graduating next Spring with a BA in Communication Studies and minor in Psychology from the University of Northern Colorado. I am doing what I can to prepare for applying to grad schools, but I just want a little bit of advice. First of all, I have decided that I want to stay in state for grad school. Financially, it's the only thing that makes sense. So I plan to apply to the comm programs at: UNC, CU Boulder, CSU, CU Denver, CU Colorado Springs, and University of Denver. Does anyone know much about these programs? Anybody in these programs? They all sound like they could be a great fit under the right circumstances. My research interests float in the area of female sexuality and homosexuality and how they are (mis)represented in the media and in our culture along with social change/activism regarding those misrepresentations. I will be graduating with a 3.8, possibly a bit higher, and solid GRE scores (my prediction based off lots of practice tests). I don't really have any research experience, that's something I want to look into this next semester, I'm just not entirely sure how. Other than that, does anyone have any advice for me? What else I can be doing to improve my chances? Also, do I have much of a chance of getting into the programs I mentioned? (They are all MA programs.) Thanks!